Saturday, July 6, 2013

The importance of blogging and tips for blogging (SHARED)

Blogs
have become the poor man’s website and for good reason. The best thing
about a blog is that it is free. Sites like Blogger and WordPress have
provided excellent services for people to create websites with ease. But
with all of the blogs out on the net, how do you make yours stand out?
There are a few methods that work extremely well, and then there are a
few methods that don’t work at all.

Creating an online blog is a great way for anybody to get the word
out about his or her opinions or online services they can provide.

I'm a make up artist and so I talk a lot about make up from various places and how to do certain looks and match them with clothes! I'm a clothes-horse!

I'm an eclectic blogger but there are topics that I write about more than others.

The first thing you are going to
want to do when creating a blog is picking your niche. A niche is the
most important aspect of how successful you are going to be. If you’re
going to be writing a blog about web hosting, then good luck. Unless you
have a great point of view or thousands of reviews on the best web
hosting sites on the Internet, you’re going to find it hard to rank high
in the search engines. When you pick your niche, pick a general topic.
Now narrow your general topic to something smaller. Now do it again. Now
do it again. Now you are ready for your blog. Having a blog that
focuses on one aspect of a topic is the best way to get traffic.

The
next thing that you want to do is write everyday. Updating your blog
everyday is the best way to get it picked up by the search engines.
Search engines like Google and Yahoo index blogs and websites based on
their content. If you are updating your blog everyday and are putting
more and more original content up, your blog is going to rank high in
the search engines.

So you have a blog that has a ton of content
and a great niche, but you’re still not seeing any traffic? This is
where people get stuck. It’s the all too common tale of somebody with a
great product, but no knowledge of how to sell it. This is where one-way
linking comes in. As you researched your niche, you probably went
though a bunch of discussion forums.

Discussion forums are great because
they always rank high in the Google and Yahoo rankings. Join two
discussion forums a day and post comments on your topic. They should
allow you to link to your blog through your profile. This way when
somebody researches your niche, they will see your post and click on
your blog.

Article marketing is another way of getting the word
out about your blog. Take a couple of the posts that you have published
on your blog and re-write them. Now you can submit them to various
article directories on the Internet like E zine and Article base. These
websites also rank very high in the Google rankings. Just like in the
discussion forums, you should be able to post links to your blog from
your profile page.

Viral marketing is another way to get an
extreme amount of traffic to your website. Sites like Metacafe and
Youtube have brought thousands of people’s blogs onto the map. If you
enjoy talking about your niche or doing short how-to videos, film a
couple of videos and include a link to your blog in the information
bracket.

Another great way to build readership to your blog is by
giving away free items. You don’t have to have a raffle for a new TV or
anything, but you can post downloadable articles, ebooks or software to
your blog. This is great because people are always looking to get
something for free. When one person gets a free ebook, they are
extremely likely to send the link to other people, thus giving you more
traffic.

Starting a blog is not an easy task. If you’re looking for
something that you can update a couple of times a month and share with
friends, then you don’t really need to worry about traffic. But if
you’re looking to make some extra money or even a full time income, you
are going to need a very high volume of traffic and a decent ranking in
Google and other search engines. Blogging is a great way to make
additional money online.

The use of viral and article marketing is a
proven way to bring you the traffic you need. Posting on discussion
forums related to your niche is also a great way to get the word out
about your blog. Stay away from e books and online sites that will try to
sell you blogging tips. Most of the materials you need can be found
through You tube videos, online articles or just a little digging.

4 comments:

Interesting perspective. I was one of those people who started a blog with no research (at least not on blogging). I was writing a book and needed an online presence. I believe my first thought when my blog appeared was "oh, heavens. This is far too easy..." And then promptly had trouble posting consistently.

I will disagree with one point: I don't think you have to blog every day. I do think you have to be consistent. Fame probably helps...but then consistently blog on a schedule that works for you.

I don't view blogs as the poor man's website. I view blogs as the modern way to run a business online and build relationships and communities with people. I also don't view blogs as free. I have a self-hosted site where I've installed WordPress. I pay for hosting. I also use a premium theme, a paid autoresponder service and other paid services to run my business. Many people who have blogs also pay for site design, which can be expensive. I didn't, but many do. In spite of these disagreements, though, I do agree that we all need to stand out. Niche is important, for sure. Keywords also are. I don't agree that you need to write every day. I believe that you need to write great content and get the word out. You've written about some great ways to do that. Blog challenges are another way :).

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About Me

I am a Stay at Home Mom and Wife and the caretaker of a kill rescue Sharpei Mix 8-9 years ago and she is 13 now! We live at the beach in Southern CA. and I sell SCENTSY and other items on Etsy.
I take part in PRODUCT REVIEWS, BOOK REVIEWS, PET PRODUCT REVIEWS and GIVEAWAYS. I also like to discuss RECIPES and COOKING and will post mine and others as well and accept recipes from you!
I write about human and animal health and keeping fit. I write personal entries. I also write entries for other blogs and write educational curriculum for outside sources.
Enjoy the blog! Thank you, Carolyn